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Rotors vs. Popups

<font face="Lucida Console"></font id="Lucida Console"><font size="2"></font id="size2"><font color="green"></font id="green"> We getting ready to put a sprinkler system in our yard and had a professional landscaper draw out our sprinkler placement. In our backyard, we will have a rectangular shaped space approximately 49' x 82'. The lanscaper only drew in 6 rotors (3 across the border of the two largest sides). We would need the commercial grade rotors (45-50' radius) to get head-to-head coverage.

Our question is: will this work well? We don't want issues with dry patches or lousy coverage, but this simplified sprinkler layout would be great if it works. Or would it be better to install 24 popups? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

It takes serious GPM (gallons per minute) to get a lawn head to go 50 feet...and that is what you would need.

Ask your contractor what his plans are...the heads need to reach each other...and in order for them to reach eachother they will over spray the way you are set up....I would ask your contractor some questions....and do some research yourself...post his answers here.

You need coverage more than you need head-to-head coverage. If the heads are seeing around 50 psi, and the layout allows the heads to be located right on the edge of the area being watered, the need for head-to-head spacing isn't absolute. Even a tree or two wouldn't prevent six heads from covering that rectangle.

There are so many times that one or more details (water pressure, uneven boundaries, too many trees) are unknown, that head-to-head spacing becomes a 'safety net' ~ It isn't that the practice is mandatory, it's just good insurance.

It's nice, but nice isn't necessary. Is there any professional reading this who would install an additional head for each tree that gets in the way of one head reaching the next head? A modern sprinkler head with sufficient pressure will cover the ground, from nozzle to the end of the arc. Old-time sprinkling, with low water pressures, was another matter entirely. I saw ancient Toro flat-top 602 heads dropping all their water about 30 feet away. Head-to-head spacing was the only way they could get the job done. If an installer doesn't bother with knowing his water supply, he may be in a similar situation. A capable installer places heads where they get the job done.

You don't know how six rotors will do, since you can't see the site, or know the water supply. I can't either. At some point, the homeowner either has some faith in the installer's ability, or doesn't. I do know of plenty of installs on rectangles like the one described, with standard rotors, that only have six heads, and with adequate operating pressure, there are no dry areas. If anyone were to 'inform' the homeowner that the design is inadequate, and more pipe and heads must be installed, the homeowner would never go for it, since the lawn is already one hundred percent covered. There are other layouts for a 50x80 rectangle that would work on lower pressures, that would still require less than a dozen heads.

Head-to-head spacing is fine, but to insist it is mandatory is simply not living in the real world.

It is mandatory on all the installs I perform for my clients and that is all I care about.

It also depends on soil type and climate..you are asking for trouble in Phoenix, Arizona if you do not have head to head coverage, whereas here in Colorado Springs, I have seen tons of yards w/out head to head coverage do just fine.....